Consider This your Written Offer !

Consider This Your Written Offer ! The Sellers are Not Interested In Your Offer! These words echo in my head ! Here is my story on why !

When I go out on a Listing the first thing I do is a Market analysis of the homes in the area that have sold . In today's market I check what has sold in the last four months if possible . I know that is what an appraiser will use if he or she is going to appraise the property . If four months is not possible I will go back six months. I will be very careful on what price I list the home at as i want it to stay sold when it sells.

The one thing I do not do is allow the seller to set the price .I may allow the seller to price it a few thousand over market value so we some room to negotiate but certainly not thirty thousand above market value .I will not use acomparable salethat is oranges to apples and expect it to fly.If this is used the seller better be aware that he is way above market value . The best comparable should be apple to apples . By this expression I mean if you have a townhome for example that is a 2 BR 2 bath and is 1800 sq' ft you compare it to the same. Orange to apple would be compare a 2 BR 2 bath townhome to an 2500 sq' ft story condo with vaulted ceiling and a basement .

Here is my story on why. I wrote an offer on a townhome thirty thousand dollars overpriced. The buyer is a very educated consumer . She knew what the properties have sold for in the area. She had made a very reasonable offer. I dropped the offer at the listing agents office .The next day I received an Email that the sellers were not interested in the buyers offer . I then emailed her back and asked her what would they be interested in considering and she replied . I then asked her to have the sellers put in writing as a counter offer . Now certainly in this market it is not unheard of for buyers to make low offers especially if the property is overpriced. She repliedconsider this your written offer. How do you negotiate an Emailed counter offer without putting it in writing and having it signed by the sellers.. Here in Pennsylvania all offers are in writing .I asked for her seller to put it in writing she refused it has been over a week . She also indicated that the seller is going to rent the property ;but is still up for sale .

Consider this your written offer

What would you do in this situation ? What is your opinion ?

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Do you have a form in PA that the seller can put in writing a list of parameters that would allow you to re-write the offer? I guess in the end...no matter how big an ass the other agent is...if your buyer is willing and able to pay that price...write an offer.

I see this from time to time. The seller is in denial as to the value and wants a buyer to overpay. They get frustrated and threaten to rent the property to express their anger. When I run into this, I tell the seller's agent that my buyers will be there when the seller is ready to be realistic. If the selling agent is particularly aggressive, I'll tell them the offer price drops 1% every week they wait.

I actually had that happen and, because the buyer really liked the property, we decided to put in ANOTHER offer at a higher price. At that point the sellers actually countered. Sellers are a strange bunch. But they should also be educated in how the process works. In my case I pursuaded the buyer to leave his ego at the door and make that second offer. That then got the ball rolling.

My mentor continuially reminded me that it was a huge mistake to make an enemy of another agent because you could never tell when you'd need that agent's help to sell one of her listings. This agent sounds like she could use charm school, but I think (unfortunately) if your client really wants the house, you'll have to put your pride in your pocket and approach the agent with a much more concilliatory attitude. You're initial approach may have put her on the defensive. Your job is to get your client the home she wans. Go get it! Good luck!!

Doug .. the funny thing is my Father and the sellers father worked together many years ago both of whom have passed away ..but I would not dream of contacting the seller ..I work for the buyer..but I agree with you

Jeffrey ..It would never appraise for the price the agent has the property up for ..so it is a losing battle .It just gets my goat that there is nothing writing ..not even a written rejection.

Bryon .. That is a good idea .. In the area where this is located it may be what will happen .Properties here are sitting on the market .

Hella I do agree with you on this point and normally if I considered the buyers offer to be too low I would convince her to come up in value..but the property will never appraise so it would be useless.

Kate As I said to Hella it would not make any sense to proceed . My buyer has 5% down with a 810 credit score . So we do need the property to appraise . When I started selling RE many years back I did learn. Homes must appraise . We may think we have a sale but if it does not appraise we do not .In this case we would not .The property would not appraise for value and would bounce back on the market. I feel we are just saving time .We are moving on to the next property .

Hannah -- and we sometimes wonder why the public has the opinion of real estate agents they do, when they deal with agents like that, who don't even know how to do their job properly? I really like Bryan's approach in a situation like this.

It is getting more common now to discuss offers rather than formally submit them. Until something is in writing and signed it means absolutely nothing. Also, the fact that it stills shows for sale and they are trying to rent it is also common. They want to see what comes first. Your buyers will find the right property - next!

Hi Hannah ~ That stinks. Our job is to try to bring buyer and seller together - not act as an impediment. I'm with you on comps - appraisals are a challenge right now - though in my market it's because properties are getting bid up dramatically. We also do counters verbally so don't have the same issue you've got. Good luck!!

Hannah, that rotten. Having unresponsive agents and even clients makes for no business. Maybe an offer less than the asking but with the contingency that buyers will not pay more than appraised value, regardless of the amount of money they may be putting down. That places the deal back to the sellers and them acknowledging that an independent person (appraiser) will set the final value.

Ed I would have liked a written response from the seller . I think we deserved that much respect . There is a form from PAR that I am going to prepare with the first few pages changing the seller response dates . it requires the sellers signatures .It is a response of acceptance or rejection .Either way it requires a response in writing from the seller not an email from the agent

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